General Discussion Forum

So as you all know, the Xbox One was revealed two days ago and with it, the eighth generation of video game consoles finally gained a clear picture. Sony and Microsoft are once again battling each other for supremacy, similar to how Sega and Nintendo duked it out a few decades earlier. But now the old dog lies dormant doesn't he? It seems like with the seventh and eighth generation, Nintendo has sort of sat back done it's own thing while its rivals toil over specs and realism. Instead of packing the Wii U with all this beefed up hardware, they have yet again opted to instead offer the average gamer a new experience, rather than worry about flashy graphics. They truly stand alone in this fight, and they're taking serious risks along with it. Selling the console at a loss, delaying several launch window games to perfect them, NOT attending E3, it's all a major risk that Sony and Microsoft don't seem to want to touch.

And that's where they truly shine.

They could just as easily ditch the innovative Gamepad, give the Wii U 10 core processors and just go with a straight forward approach. But that was never Nintendos style was it? They've always tried to innovate through gameplay. True, they were in the graphical arms race for awhile there, but they seemed to have come off that path since the Gamecube. But The point I'm trying to make here is, that even though Nintendo doesn't make the best decisions all the time, at least they're trying to always give us something new and be innovative. That is why the Wii U is so great, it's unlike anything you see on the market right now. It is the most unique console of the eighth generation, armed with a controller thats as unorthodox as you can get, but has a clear grasp on what gamers truly want: games. And it appears that the Wii U is the ONLY console to focus on games this time around. We have Sony with their share button and Facebook integration and Microsoft with their, Skype, Blu ray player amongst other extra non-gaming features and Nintendo.....with games. And while yes, they have established and are developing new social features for the Wii U, Nintendos primary focus is still on the games themselves. You could even argue that the new social platform Miiverse, while a social platform is skewed towards games as well since thats what its communities were built for.

Nintendo is a company that has always put out top notch quality games and hardware armed with their endless amount of IPs as their disposal. They always take risks, even in the face of danger delaying their games even to the point of creating a drought, to make sure they're absolutely perfect. Sure some risks havent worked out as well as others, but at least in this modern age of realistic graphics, social networking and all-in-one consoles Nintendo still sticks to what they do best and refuse to assimilate to the norm. Nintendo has a lot of challenges, battles, hardships and obstacles they're going to have to overcome in the following years of this new generation, but as long as they stick to what they know, and keep trying to create new experiences through their unique hardware and imagination driven IPs, Nintendo will always succeed in capturing the inner child in all of us and rise above the rest.

That's my two cents anyway. What do you think? Is Nintendos perfectionist ideals, unmatched IPs and unique hardware enough to take down their rivals or do you think Nintendo is down the wrong path and bound to place third this time around?

@Beta I think they definitely will! The new 3D Mario, Smash Bros and Mario Kart alone is enough to sell units. But with EVERYTHING ELSE The Wonderful 101, Pikmin 3, X (Xenoblade sequel), The new SegaxNintendo partnership games, Zelda U and other countless hard hitters that are on the way, Nintendo is bound to succeed.

@Chrono_Cross I kind of suspected as much. Just looking at the controller is intimidating enough to a casual gamer. Even if they create casual games, the image of the complex controller is enough to scare away casuals. Nintendo needs to get the message across that the Wii U is a console by gamers for gamers, by catering to the core fanbase and reaching out to other hardcore gamers as well.

Thank you, you put into words why I'm a Nintendo fan for life. In this era of game designers and console manufacturers who are scared to death of taking risks and stepping outside the box, Nintendo always dares to be different. Flashy graphics are not everything (they do help), but if I want realistic graphics, I'll watch a movie. Gaming is about playing games, and Nintendo knows that.